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Russia exceeded all expectations at Euro 2008 by reaching the semi-finals and will go home confident that they can again grace the international arena with their thrilling style of play.
Guus Hiddink has agreed to coach them until the end of the 2010 World Cup and he said the experience his young players had picked up in Austria and Switzerland would serve them well in their bid to qualify for the next major international event.
“The players have got a lot of confidence out of this contest. First, we’re going to relax a bit and then we’ll focus in September on a difficult qualification because we have Germany and other tough countries,” said Hiddink.
“The squad has learnt a lot in this tournament which can be beneficial in the qualification,” he added at a news conference after Thursday’s 3-0 defeat by Spain.
Russia face Finland, Wales, Azerbaijan and Liechtenstein as well as Germany in their qualifying group for the World Cup in South Africa, but for now they can bask in the satisfaction of being among the top four teams in Europe.
In just over two weeks Dutchman Hiddink transformed his side from what he called a naive team punished on the counter-attack by Spain in a 4-1 defeat in their opening group match into an exciting one that beat Netherlands at their own stylish game.
His previously little-known players, all but one of whom play their club football in Russia, have become transfer targets for bigger European teams.
Playmaker Andrei Arshavin has won many admirers for his quick and clever moves and looks likely to leave Zenit St Petersburg in the very near future after they said they had received an offer for him from Barcelona.
Dangerous striker Roman Pavlyuchenko, who scored three times in the tournament, has also been reported by Russian media to have received offers, while left-sided utility player Yuri Zhirkov and goalkeeper Igor Akinfeyev have also shone.
Hiddink had said any of his players moving to bigger clubs who regularly make the later stages of the Champions League would be welcomed in terms of building up big-game experience.
The Dutchman said the campaign was already a success when Russia reached the quarter-finals — their first appearance in the knockout rounds of a major championship since they were part of the Soviet Union side that reached the Euro 1988 final.
Storming into the semi-finals after tactically outwitting Netherlands in a 3-1 win was the icing on the cake.
Hiddink hopes the national team’s achievements will lead to investment in the football infrastructure and changes to training methods throughout Russia.
“This is the big moment for the country to develop itself,” Hiddink said earlier in the championship.
“I hope that this huge country, with 140 million people, if you have organised things well in scouting and in youth development, then step by step it can be a powerhouse.”
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